BIRD-BRAINING: Giants cornerback Aaron Ross pulls down his second interception of the game, beating out the Eagles' DeSean Jackson during the fourth quarter of yesterday's 29-16 victory.Reuters

PHILADELPHIA — A week ago, Aaron Ross symbolized how flawed the Giants can be even in victory.

Yesterday, the cornerback stood as a symbol of defensive resiliency that, coupled with sound, smart play on offense, can carry the Giants to an NFC East title by New Year’s Day.

In beating the Eagles 29-16 yesterday at Lincoln Financial Field, the Giants, despite being depleted with a mounting list of debilitating injuries, defeated the self-proclaimed “Dream Team” in its own building.

Based on the tangible evidence the Giants served up in the form of a cold dish of revenge for last year’s season-crushing home defeat at the hands of the Eagles, who’s the best team in the division now?

Albeit early in the season, the 1-2 “Dream Team” surely cannot lay legitimate claim to that, so why not the 2-1 Giants?

There were several significant reasons for the Giants’ win yesterday, but none was as impressive as Ross’ bounce-back. Ross’ performance was so uneven in last Monday’s lackluster home victory over the Rams that he was benched in the second half.

Ross responded yesterday by making two of the biggest plays in the game for the Giants — both game-changing interceptions.

The first one ended the Eagles’ first offensive possession, during which Michael Vick was moving his team so effortlessly through the Giants’ defense it looked as if it might be a long, angst-filled afternoon for coach Tom Coughlin.

With the Eagles at the Giants’ 19-yard line, Ross picked off a Vick pass that deflected off the hands of former teammate Steve Smith with 8:47 remaining in the first quarter. The play stopped the Eagles from taking an early lead.

The second interception all but ended the game.

With the Eagles trailing 22-16 and 8:00 left in the game, Vick on the bench with a broken right hand and backup Mike Kafka at quarterback, Ross out-leaped Eagles receiver DeSean Jackson, the symbol of that horrific 38-31 Giants loss last December, and made his second pick.

That interception broke the will of the “Dream Team” and the Eagles never threatened again.

As he stood in front of his locker knotting the tie to accessorize his suave gray suit, Ross spoke about the “short-term” memory it takes for a cornerback to survive in the pass-happy NFL.

Asked about his benching last week after Rams quarterback Sam Bradford lit him up, Ross politely tried to steer the conversation away from that, saying, “I kind of want to move on, away from that.

“I move game-to-game, play-to-play,” Ross said. “[Last week] was behind me. If you keep thinking about it, it can tear you up. If you harp on it, it will kill you. So you put it behind you and move on.”

Giants safety Antrel Rolle said the secret to a cornerback’s success is “amnesia.”

“That’s the most important thing for a corner,” Rolle said. “[Ross] was a true example of that. He was a true professional and he bounced back [from last week] better than anybody.”

Rolle said he “saw fire” in Ross’ eyes yesterday.

“He definitely had that warrior look in his eyes; he was very determined,” Rolle said.

“He had a different swagger about him all week, a different mentality,” linebacker Michael Boley said. “His whole approach in practice was just different. It showed he was more focused than he had ever been.”

Ross talked about how important it is to “keep pressing on” in the face of adversity.

“When everything is against you you’ve just got to keep going, stay positive and positive things will happen,” he said.

Those words represented the perfect metaphor for the plight of the Giants entering yesterday’s game. They were a team few expected to win, a team most felt was inferior to the “Dream Team” Eagles.

That perception has turned out to be quite different from reality, and now it’s open season in the NFC East, with the Giants as in play for the title as anybody.